


The Cards We've Been Dealt, The Hand We've Played

by YunHo_1819



Series: Garrison Shenanigans [8]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Canonical Character Death, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Family, Family Feels, Gen, Hopeful Ending, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, POV Shiro (Voltron), Pre-Canon, Pre-Kerberos Mission, Protective Shiro (Voltron)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-15
Updated: 2020-12-15
Packaged: 2021-03-11 05:22:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,235
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28089966
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/YunHo_1819/pseuds/YunHo_1819
Summary: The communicator beeped a few times, and Matt’s voice rang through. “Shiro! What do you need this time? I’m in the middle of class.” Thankfully, he only sounded a tad bit exasperated. “You’re lucky that you’re a ranking officer and the professors love you like crazy.”“I can’t find Keith.”Matt was silent for a moment. “You checked all our hideouts, I presume?”“Yes. Even the roof.”“Have you, I don’t know, checked his room?”Shiro wanted to slap himself. He swore he could hear Matt’s growing Cheshire grin.“I’ll take that as a no, then. Tell me when you find him, ‘kay?”Warning: Character death mentioned. The mood of this story is drastically different compared to the rest of the series.
Relationships: Keith & Shiro (Voltron)
Series: Garrison Shenanigans [8]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1955206
Comments: 2
Kudos: 62





	The Cards We've Been Dealt, The Hand We've Played

**Author's Note:**

> I rated it as general, as nothing horrible was explicitly stated, but if I have to up the rating please let me know.  
> Warning: Character death mentioned.  
> So... this story invokes very different feelings compared to the rest of the series. You'll see.

Shiro sighed. He had just come out of a meeting when Iverson cornered him, demanding him to track down his wayward cadet. Keith had skipped class. That in itself was concerning: As mischievous and fiery as Keith was, he was a diligent student, and never failed attendance without good reason.

The problem was, he couldn’t find the kid anywhere. He had run all over the Garrison, searching in all nooks and crannies, in every hiding spot that he could recall from Matt and Keith’s intricate mission planning. Nothing.

Squeezing his eyes shut in desperation, Shiro pondered the last resort option.  _ Call Matt. _ Matt wasn’t going to be happy to be disturbed, but well… What else could he do? With a slight hesitation, he levelled his breath and hit the dial button.

The communicator beeped a few times, and Matt’s voice rang through. “Shiro! What do you need this time? I’m in the middle of class.” Thankfully, he only sounded a tad bit exasperated. “You’re lucky that you’re a ranking officer and the professors love you like crazy.”

“I can’t find Keith.”

Matt was silent for a moment. “You checked all our hideouts, I presume?”

“Yes. Even the roof.”

“Have you, I don’t know, checked his room?”

Shiro wanted to slap himself. He swore he could hear Matt’s growing Cheshire grin.

“I’ll take that as a no, then. Tell me when you find him, ‘kay?”

“Alright.” Shiro’s pace hastened as he turned and headed towards the dorms.

* * *

“Keith?”

Shiro knocked on the door of the younger boy’s dorm room and went inside. The interior was dark and abysmally cold. Blinking a little to adjust to the darkness, he trailed his eyes to the bundle of blankets huddled at the corner of the lower bunk. Shiro furrowed his brow.  _ Was he sick? _ He invited himself in and plopped onto the bed.

“Hey, you feeling alright?” The boy mumbled an inaudible response. Shiro pressed the back of his hand against Keith’s forehead. Thankfully, no temperature. He took a closer look. Keith looked mostly fine, apart from the fact that he was blankly staring at the wall, and hadn’t slapped Shiro’s hand away for mother henning him. So, not sick then. He was most likely dealing with something psychological.

“Do you want to talk?” Keith shook his head, hugging his knees to his chest. Despite lying on a bed, he looked exhausted. Prominent bags hung around his eyes. “Well, then. I’ll tell Iverson to exempt you from classes today, okay?” There was a tiny nod in response.

Shiro sat beside him, offering silent support. Sending a message to Iverson, another telling Matt that he found Keith, and a last one pleading Adam to substitute for his classes, he leaned against the wall and waited. He, from experience, knew better than to push Keith to talk. It was better to let him initiate the conversation himself.

Ten minutes passed. Hmm, he should probably speed things up a little. “Do you want a hug?” Shiro questioned, holding his arms up, an inviting gesture. As standoffish as Keith seemed, Shiro knew that he desperately craved affection (how deprived Keith really was, he didn’t know; He only knew that it was the end-product of multiple foster homes and pseudo-parents that Keith refused to speak of), and sought to give it whenever he could. Keith turned towards him and stared for a moment, then slowly slumped into Shiro’s embrace, nuzzling into his arm. Shiro could feel him slowly relax and had to stifle a chuckle at his somewhat catlike behaviour.

Soon enough, Keith struggled out of his hold and sat beside him. “Sorry,” He murmured. “It’s just, today’s my dad’s birthday.”

_ Oh. _

“I’m overreacting, I know. It’s been years. I should be over it.”

“No, no. that’s not overreacting!” Shiro hastened to reply, then cringed a little internally at his brash wording.  _ Wow, how eloquent, Shirogane,  _ he mentally berated himself. _ That would totally reassure him. _ Ugh, he really should have taken classes in motivational speaking or something. What if he said something wrong and caused Keith to regress into a grouchy desert hermit for the rest of his life?

And now, he was overthinking. Steeling his breath, he said, “What I meant was, this isn’t the type of thing that you just get over with.” Keith looked at him, expression sullen and unconvinced. Shiro wondered how many people had told him otherwise as he met his eyes and spoke quietly, “He’s your family. You’re allowed to grieve.”

Keith didn’t reply, but Shiro could tell that he had heard, judging from the shaky breath he let out as he tucked his knees to his chest and curled up next to him.

Shiro’s communicator suddenly pinged. Brightening, he checked it and turned to Keith. “I’ve gotten permission to take you off base. Do you want to go visit your dad?”

Keith stared at him. He looked passive, though his voice betrayed his hesitant excitement and disbelief. “You can do that?”

“Yeah,” he replied easily, though, something about the reaction didn’t sit right with him.  _ Has no one ever done that for him before? _ His heart ached a little. Nevertheless, he grinned. “Well, what are you waiting for? Let’s go!”

* * *

The cemetery was quiet, as not many people visited at this time of the year. Shiro let Keith run ahead, watching his silhouette dart between tombstones as he searched for the one that belonged to his father. 

He caught up beside him a while later. Keith stood still as a statue, eyes boring into the beautiful calligraphy engraved in the stone. Shiro placed a hand on his shoulder, the gesture a soundless reminder of his companionship.

How different would things have been, if Keith’s father were still here? How many lives would have changed? Shiro couldn’t fault the man for passing, but he raged internally towards the fact that he passed his son into the cruel hands and cold eyes of society. It wasn’t fair, how nobody reached out to give stability and comfort but dished out plenty of the opposite instead.  _ It wasn’t fair. _

But since when has anything been fair? From the beginning, everybody has been dealt a different hand, with many who were less privileged than others. It was a fact of life, as Shiro had learned earlier on through desperate tears and hard grinding, but it didn’t make him feel any less bitter.

Keith turned his head towards him, and though tear tracks were clearly visible on his face, Shiro was suddenly struck by how relaxed he looked. In fact, he looked content. And that was proven when Keith pulled him into a tight hug. Shiro wrapped his arms around him with equal force, conveying all the hidden emotions he had failed to express.

He couldn’t take away the pain that life had caused, but rather than lamenting about the trials that were forcefully thrust upon them, he could throw away the resentment and heal the wounds left behind. He would give what he could, and provide the compassion that was desperately needed and desired.

The world will not stop to give a little peace, but he could make some for themselves. He would create their own stability, and that would be enough.

As Keith loosened his grip on him and gestured for them to leave, Shiro took one long last look at the grave.

_ I’ll take care of your son, I promise. _

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed reading it.  
> There have been lots of things happening around the world, of course, there are good and bad, but somehow the negative ones seem to stick with me. And when I hear about them, I can't help but think about how unfair it all is.  
> Life is short, make the most of it. We can't change what we get, but we can change what we do.  
> If you're having any kind of trouble, please reach out, and don't suffer alone. I'm always here to chat if you want to. :)


End file.
